Imhotep
''"Death is only the beginning..."-Imhotep. Imhotep was an ancient Egyptian priest and advisor to King Seti I. He was credited as the 'Keeper of the Dead', but when Imhotep was caught having an affair with Seti's mistress, Anck-su-namun, he was punished with an unholy curse: The Hom Dai, which granted its victim immortality...but at a price. He would be bound by sacred law to, if ever ressurected from his suspended animation, eat the flesh and organs of all who opened a chest containing The Book of the Dead, and would have power over sand, water, and even manipulate the Biblical Ten Plagues of Egypt for his own uses. When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was accidentally revived by aspiring archeologist Evelyn (Evey) Carnahan, more than three thousand years had passed and his body was now in a decomposed, mummified state. He was stopped in his quest to ressurect Ank-su-namun and conquer the earth by both her and an American mercenary named Richard (Rick) O'Connell. However, eight years later, he was revived once again by a cult that worshipped him in order to face the recently-awakened Scorpion King and steal away control of his invincible Army of Anubis. But at films end, Imhotep found himself about to tumble into a crack in the earth leading to the Underworld, and when he begged his reincarnated love Ank-su-namun to help him, she fled in cowardice. Deeply hurt and astonished by her betrayal, and, sharing one last envious/sympathetic moment with his two enemies Rick O'Connell and Evelyn O'Connell, then commited suicide by willingly falling into the endless abyss. Fictional Biography: The year was 1290 B.C. in ancient Egypt. What began as a secret affair between High Priest Imhotep and Pharaoh Seti's mistress, Ank-su-namun, eventually became a story of love, murder, and ressurection. It began with a fight-training session between Ank-su-namun and her student, Princess Nefertiri, as her father Seti and Imhotep watched with amusement. Ank-su-namun was victorious in the duel, and Nefertiri first notices a strange bond between her and the High Priest, as they often look at each other with intense interest. That night, a bored Nefertiri secretly witnessed Imhotep and Ank-su-namun kissing together...just when Seti arrived to see Ank-su-namun. Noticing a smear on her body paint from Imhotep's loving embrace, the Pharaoh was then shocked to see his faithful priest appear from behind and draw his sword. turning around to face him, Ank-su-namun then stabbed her master in the back, as Imhotep sliced the helpless King in the stomach. Horrified, Nefertiri had alerted Seti's faithful guards, the Medjai, to what was occuring in the room, and they burst in just in time to watch Ank-su-namun commit suicide, after agreeing with a hiding Imhotep that her love would ressurect her. Keeping his word, Imhotep performed the secret ceremony in a chamber beneath Hamunaptra, City of the Dead and hiding place of Egypt's many treasures. However, just as the blasphemous priest was about to perform the neccissary sacrifice to complete the resurrection ceremony, the Medjai appeared and apprehended Imhotep and his servants, catching them red-handed and Ank-su-namun's soul returned to hell. As punishment for their terrible sins, Imhotep's priests were mummified alive and buried inside the walls of the city. Imhotep himself, however, would suffer the Hom Dai, a legendary curse which granted the victim unholy powers and control over the Ten Plagues of Egypt. But the catch was that he would be buried alive with carnivorous beetles called Scarabs, which would slowly eat him alive, forever tormenting the undead priest to eternal suffering. Buried in a locked sarcophagus at the feet of a statue of Anubis, the Medjai vowed to do all in their power to guard the forbidden city from intruders, who may accidentally revive the Creature and unleash his terrible powers upon the Earth... The Mummy (1999 film) Thousands of years pass, and the Medjai still exist as a secret society with their descendants continuing the old vow to keep Imhotep from awakening. The first film The Mummy begins with a group of cornered French Foreign Legionnairs fending off an army of angry Tuareg bandits. The Medjai leader, Ardeth Bay, takes special notice of an American soldier named Richard (Rick) O'Connell, who becomes the only survivor of the massacre and escapes the city with a small souvenir: a mysterious black puzzle box... Some time later, a librarian, Evelyn (Evey) Carnahan, came into possession of the small box from her bumbling brother Jonathan (who stole the trinket from a drunk O'Connell at a bar), and she then recruits the cocky mercenary to lead her and her brother back to Hamunaptra, now a legendary city rumored to contain untold treasures. The small group arrive in the ruins of the City after dealing with a team of Medjai who tried to sabotage the expedition and meeting a rival team of American treasure hunters. As Evey and her tiny party explore the underground catacombs, they accidentally come across and open (with the puzzle box, revealed to be a key) the coffin containing a decomposing mummy. From study, Evelyn learns that the man was buried alive and given the Hom Dai curse for crimes unknown. However, the librarian is disbelieving of magic and the supernatural, and disregards the warning to never open a sacred chest containing The Book of the Dead, containing cantations to awaken the dead. Meanwhile, the American treasure hunters discover the chest buried inside the Anubis statue, and open it hoping to find treasure. Instead they find the Book of the Dead, and like Evey disregard the warning telling them that whoever opens it will be hunted down and killed by Imhotep, should he ever reawaken from the dead. That night, Evey steals the Book of the Dead from the Americans' camp, curiously opening the locked book made of obsidian with the puzzle box, and reads from it. She accidentally reads a spell from the book, which ressurrects Imhotep. The mummy reawakens with a horrific shriek, and at that moment Imhotep summons a swarm of locusts, chasing the explorers underground. One of the Americans, Burns, trips and loses his glasses, blinded and trapped in a ghostly corridor. The man tries to follow his companions, but cannot see without glasses, and feels a presence behind him. Turning around, the horrified man screams with terror as the walking, living mummy covers his mouth... A moment later, Evelyn gets separated from the others, arriving in the same corridor. She comes across Burns (who is faced away from her) and at first asks for his help…until he turns around to reveal that his eyes and tongue have been ripped out. He begs for help, gurgling his words, and a horrified Evey stumbles backwards into Imhotep, now using Burns eyes and tongue, turning him into a ghastly, nightmarish specter of death. He looks at Evelyn, who screams in terror, and then curiously asks (in Ancient Egyptian), “Ank-su-namun?” Apparently he has confused Evelyn for his ancient love, asking her “Come with me my princess, Ank-su-namun.” Just then Rick O’Connell appears, running toward Evey and berating her for running off. He then realizes that the woman is staring at something with great fright, and when he turns to see what she is so damn interested in, he shouts in shock at the snarling mummy. Imhotep then unleashes an ear-splitting shriek of fury; his wrinkled and decomposed jaw unhinging like an anaconda. He is then shot right in the gut by Rick with his trusty shotgun, falling to the ground as the two run to safety. He then raises his head staring right into camera, growling with murderous rage. Meanwhile, one of the men accompanying the Americans, a Hungarian named Beni Gabor, has also gotten lost in the underground passages. He becomes trapped in a room, and then turns to find himself face-to-face with a snarling Imhotep. In terror, the Hungarian coward tries using a variety of different religious charms and trinkets, praying to each in a vain effort to protect him-self from the advancing mummy. Just as Imhotep raises his mummified hand to rattle the life from the pathetic man, Beni then uses his last charm: a Star of David, and speaking in Hebrew. Imhotep then halts, recognizing the slave tongue, and takes this as Beni being a slave. He decides to enlist Beni as his servant, offering gold as well as immunity to his terrible wrath in return for servitude. Agreeing, the Hungarian then secretly takes the disguised mummy to Cairo, where Evey, Rick, Jonathan and the surviving Americans are seeking refuge from the recent disturbing events. As Rick plans to leave (thinking that the resurrected Imhotep is not his problem), in one of the Cairo Hotels Imhotep and Beni have arranged a meeting with Burns. He is still alive, but now has a blindfold over his empty sockets, and his speech impaired by the lack of a tongue. The poor man tries to speak, sharing his gratitude to Beni and the masked, cloaked stranger who has come to offer a proposition. But he is then stricken with terror when Beni tells him that, “Prince Imhotep thanks you for your hospitality…and for your eyes and for your tongue. But I’m afraid more is needed. He must now consummate the curse you and your friends have brought down upon yourselves…” Realizing now what is about to happen, the pathetic man begs for mercy as he sobs with terror, and Imhotep then removes his black Egyptian mask to reveal his revolting mummified visage… Outside, Rick notices that the water in the city has turned to blood, and realizes that this is Imhotep’s doing. He and Evelyn rush up to Burns apartment, but are too late to save him. Arriving in the room, Evey gasps with shock at the shriveled-up corpse of the American…and then spots Imhotep at the other side of the room. He begins to instantaneously grow a new layer of muscle and skin, absorbing the man’s life force and partially restoring his decomposed body. Then, with fury, Imhotep stomps across the room as Rick desperately shoots at him with two pistols: to no effect. The mummy then tosses Rick through the air, and then turns his attention to Evelyn, who is backing against the wall in revulsion. He gently tells her, “You have saved me from the Underworld…I thank you.” Imhotep then leans in for a kiss, but is scared off by Evey’s pet cat (he has a fear of cats, since they were worshipped as guardians of the Underworld by Ancient Egyptians). Imhotep then tracks down the second member of the American group who participated in the opening of the chest, an Egyptologist who is in possession of the Book of the Dead. The mummy corners him in a street, and drains his life force as he did to Burns, turning the man into a wrinkled, skeletal husk. Growing yet another layer of flesh, making his face better resemble his pre-cursed humanity, Imhotep then spots Rick and Jonathan watching him from a window. He unhinges his gaping mouth and regurgitates a swarm of flies, which engulfs the panicking Egyptians in the street. After killing the second-to-last American, Henderson, a near-completely restored human Imhotep silently sneaks into Evelyn’s room, finding her asleep. He then passionately kisses the woman, which causes his mouth to instantly revert back to its decomposed, mummified state. She awakens in shock and disgust, just as Rick and her brother Jonathan break into the room, scaring off Imhotep again with the cat. Finally convinced of the inescapable problem, Rick and Evey, along with Jonathan and the last American, Daniels, go to the Cairo Museum. They determine that, if the Book of the Dead brought Imhotep back to life, maybe The Book of Amun Ra (a golden, divine counterpart to the Black Book also hidden at Hamunaptra) might contain the incantation to kill him again. Just then they are ambushed by a raving mob of Egyptians, who have fallen under a hypnotic spell turning them into Imhotep’s slaves and sporting ghastly boils and sores. Cornered at a dead-end street, and having lost Daniels to the mob while escaping, Rick and Evey and Jonathan (along with Ardeth Bay, who has reluctantly joined them to help find a way to kill the Creature) finally meet the fully restored Imhotep. Using Beni as translator, Imhotep requests that Evelyn come with him, and in return will spare her companions lives. She does comply in order to save Rick’s life, knowing that Imhotep will take her back to Hamunaptra and use her as a sacrifice to try and once again revive Ank-su-namun. But then Imhotep breaks his agreement, ordering the mob to kill Rick and the others, while Beni retrieves the puzzle box/key from Jonathan. The heroes manage to escape down a manhole to safety. The next day, Rick hires a veteran pilot Winston Havelock and his biplane to take him and his two companions to Hamunaptra to rescue Evey. En route, Imhotep generates a mammoth sandstorm to engulf the tiny plane, but the heroes manage to pull off a crash-landing and survive. He and Evey and Beni arrive at Hamunaptra, and the mummy then uses his powers to reawaken his mummified priests, who burst from within the underground walls of the City catacombs. Ordering them to hold off the rescuers, Imhotep then proceeds to begin the ceremony as he did all those thousands of years ago, shackling Evelyn next to the mummy of Ank-su-namun. Reading from the Book of the Dead, Imhotep revives his beloved, but still needs to kill Evelyn so that Ank-su-namun’s soul can switch to her beautiful, fresh body. He is about to stab Evey with the sacrificial knife when suddenly he is distracted by both Jonathan (who has found the Book of Amun Ra but cannot open it without the key) and Rick (who picks up a sword and fends off the mummy priests while freeing Evelyn). Jonathan tries reading some of the symbols and sentences on the Book’s cover, resulting in him accidentally summoning a troop of soldier mummies, which then battle with Rick while Ank-su-namun takes matters into her own hands and attacks Evey. Finally, Jonathan then finds the correct commandment and regains control of the soldiers, ordering them to kill Ank-su-namun. Watching with horror and grief as his beloved is killed for the second time, Imhotep then furiously attempts to kill Jonathan, but Rick then appears from behind and slices off the mummy’s right arm. Reacting merely with a sigh, Imhotep then begins tossing and punching O’Connell across the room, while Evelyn and Jonathan (who had stolen to key from Imhotep’s robes while fighting Rick) open the Book of Amun Ra. They read a spell that summons the god Anubis, who then steals away Imhotep’s immortal curse powers, turning him back into a mortal man. Now helpless, Rick plunges his sword into Imhotep’s stomach, and the shocked priest then holds his spilled blood with terrible realization. Stumbling backwards into a small bog, Imhotep then begins to transform back into his mummified state as he sinks beneath the ghostly water. Before going under completely, Imhotep then says with a smile that, “Death is only the Beginning…” Then, with a final gasp, the mummy plunges downwards into infinity as Rick and Evelyn look on with semi-sympathy. The Mummy Returns Eight years pass, and the O’Connells now have a son Alex, and live in a glamorous London mansion. Evelyn, now married to Rick, has begun to have odd dreams and visions concerning an Ancient Egyptian princess guarding a mysterious object within a chest. Meanwhile, a cult that worships Imhotep secretly has been excavating in the buried ruins of Hamunaptra. They discover the mummy of Imhotep encased in a block of amber, frozen stiff. However, the cult has hired three mercenaries to steal a precious artifact in the possession of the O’Connell family: the legendary Bracelet of Anubis, which, according to myth, displays a map leading to the fabled Oasis of Ahm Shere. This is where the fabled Egyptian warlord the Scorpion King is waiting to be challenged, and conquer the world with his invincible Army of Anubis. The cult plans to reawaken their master so that Imhotep may be the one to defeat the Scorpion King in combat and gain control of his unstoppable army. Whoever slays the Scorpion King can either use the Army of Anubis to wipe out the world or send the Army back to the Underworld forever. Imhotep, of course, desires the former. The cult ships the frozen Imhotep to the British Museum in London, after having succeeded in abducting Evelyn O’Connell and stealing the Bracelet of Anubis (or so they thought…). Using the Book of the Dead (also recovered from the Hamunaptra ruins), the cult leader performs a ritual where he reads from the black book and watches as Imhotep stirs within the block of amber. Then, a mummified arm bursts through the solidified rock, and an angry and confused Imhotep breaks free from his frozen prison. He asks what year it is. At that moment a beautiful woman named Meela comes to meet Imhotep in person, seemingly without fear and claiming to be Ank-su-namun reincarnated. Delighted to see his beloved alive (only in body, however), he passionately strokes her hair as he vows to summon Ank-su-namun’s soul so that it may recombine with its reincarnated body. Meela then tells Imhotep “I have a gift for you.” Turning, he furiously sees Evelyn bound on a sacrificial table. Meela then states that she knew it would please Imhotep to watch her die. As Evey is about to be thrown into a furnace, Rick leaps to her rescue just as Ardeth Bay unleashes gunfire. The rescue partners had followed the cult to the museum, with Ardeth Bay accompanying Rick because of his knowledge of the cult’s plan. Imhotep is greatly annoyed at the intrusion, but when he briefly spots Rick O’Connell reloading his shotgun, the mummy’s fury is boundless, shouting, “YOU!” As Rick, Evelyn and Bay escape the museum, Imhotep makes his way to a sacred jar containing his faithful soldier mummies from the first film. Commanding “Your master is here!” Imhotep orders the soldiers to pursue and kill the O’Connell’s. This evolves into an intense battle atop, around and within a speeding double-decker bus commandeered by Jonathan, but the O’Connell family still survives and defeats the soldier mummies. But while the heroes rest on a London bridge, Imhotep’s servants abduct young Alex after discovering that the chest is empty, and that Alex had but the Bracelet on himself. It will never come off until he reaches the Oasis, thus in order to get the trail to Ahm Shere the cult has to bring Alex along. Rick and Evelyn, along with Jonathan and Ardeth Bay, set off on a rescue mission with the aid of an old friend of Rick’s: pilot Izzy Buttons, who owns a makeshift dirigible. His servants tell Imhotep that Jonathan was in possession of the Spear of Osiris; a magical weapon that, according to legend, is the only thing that can kill the Scorpion King. Disguised as a scepter, it is the only remnant of Jonathan’s personal wealth. Reacting with skepticism, stating that his Hom Dai powers will be enough to kill the Scorpion King anyway, he then shares a romantic moment with Meela, passionately kissing each other in a revoltingly gross shot of Meela kissing the decayed, oozing mummy. Later, the cult sets off for Egypt in a locomotive train, and Imhotep meets with the rebellious, witty young Alex for the first time. Having been taught Ancient Egyptian by his mother, Alex understands everything the masked stranger tells him. Stating that the boy has only five days to reach the Oasis and enter the Gold Pyramid where the Scorpion King awaits, he reveals that if Alex does not make it to the Pyramid on the sixth day, the Bracelet will kill him. Alex then says, proudly and defiantly, “My dad is going to kick your ass!” Chuckling, Imhotep then removes his black mask, revealing his mummified, nightmarish face. Alex jumps back with horror, and the mummy then responds coldly, “I do not think so…” After sending the boy away, Imhotep then manages to restore himself to humanity when he kills the three mercenaries, who had demanding higher payment to the annoyance of their clients. Meanwhile, Alex’s family have been traveling in the dirigible across Egypt, following messages left behind by their son: instructions as to where Imhotep and his men are headed next, thus allowing his parents to follow the trail. Eventually the balloon arrives in a vast canyon where the Nile runs through. Down below, Imhotep sees them, and tells young Alex, “I hope your parents have enjoyed their journey.” Then, with an inhuman bellow, Imhotep summons a gargantuan tidal wave, sending it after the dirigible. Manipulating the water to create a facial likeness of him-self in the wave, Imhotep does exactly what he did with a sandstorm all those years before. However, the dirigible has been equipped with rocket boosters, and the tiny vessel blasts at incredible speed away from the wave…until the engines stall. The wave catches up with the stationary balloon and engulfs it, sending it crashing into the jungle of Ahm Shere below. Imhotep then proudly walks past Alex, patting the disturbed boy’s head. The O’Connell’s have survived the crash, however, and set out into the Oasis, with the Gold Pyramid in the center. En route, Rick and Ardeth Bay manage to catch up with Imhotep’s party, which is being attacked by murderous Pygmy Mummies. Alex is rescued during the confusion, and Rick manages to sprint into the Pyramid entrance before the sun rises on the sixth morning. As the two rests with exhaustion, Imhotep and Ank-su-namun then appear and kill Evelyn with a stab to the gut. The two then continue into the building while the family O’Connell mourns Evey as she passes away. Stricken with hate and revenge, Rick O’Connell then pursues Imhotep into the Pyramid, intent on avenging his wife. This culminates in a duel between Rick and Imhotep, who has had his Hom Dai powers removed by Anubis in order to create a fair fight, rendering the priest mortal for the second time. Viciously punching and fighting the American with impressive skill, the heavy gates of the battle chamber then open, distracting both Imhotep and Rick. Out comes the Scorpion King himself: a demonic monster of half-man half-scorpion. Imhotep manages to save him-self by claiming to be a servant of the King and that O’Connell is the one who has come to challenge the monster. The mummy grins as the Scorpion King falls for his trick, pursuing Rick while Imhotep sneaks off to find another way to kill the distracted Scorpion King. During the climatic battle, Imhotep sights Jonathan and Alex holding the Spear of Osiris, having been informed by Rick of it’s true nature. The two manage to unfold the scepter into a deadly spear, and Jonathan then desperately tosses it at the Scorpion King, with the intention of sending the Army of Anubis back to Hell. However, Imhotep manages to intercept the Spear, catching it and throwing it himself, proudly proclaiming, “The Army of Anubis will be MINE now!” At that second, O’Connell leaps and snatches the spear in midair, enraging Imhotep. Rick succeeds in stabbing the Scorpion King, who explodes into dust, knocking both Rick and Imhotep into a canyon filled with evil spirits which try to pull them both down to the Underworld. Imhotep and his enemy both manage to grab hold of the edge, and the two beg to their respective lovers (Rick tells Evelyn was resurrected by Alex using the Book of the Dead to go and save herself, while Imhotep pleads for Ank-su-namun to help him). Evey defies her husband and comes to his aid, pulling him up and out of the crevasse. Ank-su-namun, however, flees with cowardice, severely shocking Imhotep. ! The mad dog's escaped.]] He spends a short moment merely staring in disbelief, and then locks eyes with Rick and Evelyn. He seems to envy their love, and finally redeems himself by allowing the spirits to drag him back to the Underworld, for the final time… The Mummy: The Animated Series Imhotep appeared as the main villain of this short-lived animated TV show for children. He desired power over a collection of sacred scrolls, and would constantly encounter the O’Connell’s, who were also searching for the legendary parchments. Characterization: As portrayed by Arnold Vosloo, Imhotep was meant to be a tragic figure: a victim of forbidden love who paid the price by losing his humanity. In an interview with Vosloo, he saw Imhotep’s situation as, “a skewered version of Romeo and Juliet.” In the first film, Imhotep was a menacing figure, but also sympathetic for his plight and cursed punishment. He appears to have no remorse or feeling about killing the American treasure hunters, but he does show his caring, twisted interpretation of “love” when meeting Evelyn Carnahan. At film’s end, Imhotep becomes mortal and is stabbed with a sword, fatally wounding him. He reacts with pain and surprise, but seems to be confident of his return, swearing vengeance before he reverts back to a mummy and sinks into the bog. For a good deal of the first film, Imhotep was portrayed as a walking, talking mummy, created digitally with CGI by Industrial Light and Magic. Arnold Vosloo performed motion capture and movement reference for animators, resulting in the groundbreaking personality and facial expressions that the Mummy displayed in the final product. The remake trilogy’s version of Imhotep is based on the previous version made famous by classic horror film actor Boris Karloff in the original The Mummy (1936 film). However, in the classic original, Imhotep was a priest who loved the princess Ank-su-namun, and, instead of a love affair, his beloved died from illness. He then stole a sacred parchment, the Scroll of Thoth, which he planned to use to resurrect the princess. But he was caught and buried alive as a bandaged mummy as punishment. Buried in a secret location, Karloff’s Imhotep did not receive any sort of curse or divine superpowers, although he did posses psychic abilities including telepathy and wore a magic ring that generated a lethal laser beam. When Imhotep’s forbidden tomb was discovered by archeologists, one of the young students read from the scroll, unintentionally resurrecting Imhotep, who then escaped with the Scroll. Years later, he would appear as a wrinkled, extremely old-aged Egyptian man called Ardeth Bay. This pseudonym was used as the name of the Medjai warrior in the remake films. In The Mummy Returns, his faithful servants returned Imhotep to life (back to his mummified corpse-form, but, oddly, already possessing eyes and a tongue without having to take them from a living victim), and the moment he awakened he demanded to know the year. When told that it was “The Year of the Scorpion,” he reacted with glee, laughing. But then Meela Nais, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Ank-su-namun, visited him, and Imhotep was happy to see her not respond with fright at his hideous visage. He was furious when he saw Rick O’Connell crashing the ceremony, shouting “YOU!” Rick responded with a shotgun blast to the chest; the exact same thing O’Connell did to Imhotep in their first meeting. Imhotep's Hebrew is not perfect. In the first movie, when he tells Beni "I may have a use for you," he uses the feminine form of the word "you," as if he was speaking to a woman. This may or may not have been intentional on the part of the writers. Category:Characters Imhotep Imhotep